Treasure Hunts, Part I

This was one of the coolest days. “Treasure hunt” is a Christianese term (for charismatic Christians, mainly), but it describes the experience pretty well. Basically, we decide that we’re going to go out and pray for people someplace. Before we go, we all spend some time in prayer, asking God to give us direction on where to go, who to talk to, etc. While praying, we write down anything we hear from God. The things we get are “clues” – a sample list might be: Walmart, green hat, tall guy with red hair. So you go to those places and look for those things; if you find them, then it’s usually a sign that God wants you to pray for them. If you don’t, then, hey, just pray for whoever’s around you. God can use anything.

We split up into two groups. Lauren, Jessica, and I were together, and Auguste came with us to guide us, since it’s not the best idea for a bunch of Americans to wander around downtown on their own during their first week in the country. We had a bunch of things on our list after praying. Most of them didn’t come to anything – did we not notice them? Did we not spend enough time looking? I don’t know. But we did find two things on the list. When we were praying, we wrote them down as:

• Checkers (Lauren saw a checkerboard and simultaneously heard the word “checkers” as she was praying)
• A signpost, like a street sign, with a word on it that started with “Jac” or “Jaq.” (That was mine – I don’t know how to explain how I know the word was longer, or how I saw it in my mind’s eye but wasn’t sure which spelling of the “Jack” sound applied. That’s just how it was.)

We went downtown and parked near the Hilton, the same Hilton that Jeff and I would stay at six days later, when we were bumped from our flight home. There was a mall across the road, and there was a Checkers grocery store inside - a local chain. We decided that was as good a place to start as any. We walked across the street after helping Auguste carry the stroller down a long set of concrete stairs leading from the elevated parking lot. Emmanuel was very well-behaved during the journey.

As we entered Checkers, I noticed two security guards at the entrance. They were just kind of half-watching people as they came and left; both were in their early twenties, one girl, one guy. They put little stickers on our water bottles to indicate that they were paid for before we entered the store. As we passed them, I suddenly had a strong feeling that we were supposed to pray for the girl.

I want to pause for a moment to explain how my mind works with these things. I can’t say that I can hear God clearly on anything and everything – far from it. However, when I do think I hear Him, there’s often a clear identifying factor: I know something without thinking about it. I’m a classic overthinker, analyzing everything that could possibly happen in any scenario a thousand times before it plays out. When I’m thinking about doing something, I need to mentally write 17 thesis papers on the pros and cons and historical factors and how the decision is affected by atmospheric weather conditions before I decide for sure. Sometimes I do this more quickly than others, but I still do it. Plus, I typically don’t like talking to people I don’t know. All this to say – when God drops something into my heart (or gut, or “knower”, as Pastor Tom would say), I tend to trust it, because I never have that feeling otherwise.

So I knew we needed to pray. We did a circuit around the store; I didn’t see anyone else that jumped out as a “treasure” (oh yeah, and the people we pray for are the “treasures” in the treasure hunt) and neither did anyone else. So I vocalized my feeling about praying for the girl at the front, and paused by her on the way out. I said something vaguely awkward about asking to pray for her because I felt like God wanted me to. I don’t really remember. But she said, “yes” readily, and even motioned us to step outside the store into the mall area. I was just going to pray for her while she watched out for potential shoplifters or whatever, but hey, this was even better.

With the other team standing close by, I asked for her name. She said, “Jacqueline,” and I felt the connection click into place in my brain. The street sign I had seen in prayer wasn’t a literal street sign, but a metaphor. I asked Jacqueline if she had been praying specifically for direction about a major decision, and she said yes – and it was the quick, wide-eyed, nodding, yes, not just a “sure, everyone needs direction, I guess” kind of yes. It seemed to be right on target. I started praying for her, and as I did some more words came about the subject – I told her that God wanted to give her an answer after all of her persistent prayer, and that He wasn’t going to give it through us ( I had no idea what it was), but that we were to encourage her to keep praying because He wanted to reveal it to her that day. I prayed some more, and then Auguste stepped in and told her that she shouldn’t feel down on herself, but she should realize her worth and importance.

She thanked us sincerely for the prayer, and we left to walk around that floor of the mall a bit more. There wasn’t much else around, so we circled back toward the exit. This brought us past the Checkers entrance again, and Jacqueline called out to Auguste as we passed.  She asked for her phone number, and what church we belonged to. Auguste told her where All Nations church was (the church where she and Paul were on staff, if I haven’t said already), and invited her to the weekly young adult group that met Saturday nights. They weren’t meeting that week, but the girls in our group were planning a girls’ night for the young adult girls, so the invitation was still open.

After talking to her, Auguste felt like buying her and the other security card a soda (or “cooldrink”, as they call them there. Still better than calling it “pop”…) While she was in the store, Lauren and I went into the Christian bookstore across the hall. Jessica guarded/entertained the baby.

Lauren felt led to pray for the girl who was working in the bookstore; after waiting for her to finish with some customers, she spoke to her and prayed with her. The girl was a Christian already, and was very happy to receive prayer. She shared a bit about her dreams and plans for a career change. Eventually, Auguste came in and prayed for her as well. They invited her to the girls’ night that weekend, too – and she actually came and brought two friends! It turned out that they had recently gone to pray at the same hospital where we had prayed  – on the same floor, even. Crazy!

I think the bookstore girl’s name is Katrina. Apparently, she was awesome. I was not at the girls’ night, for hopefully obvious reasons.

The other group had a pretty intense experience as well. In fact, it seemed like theirs was even more exciting! I'd write about it but, you know...I wasn't there. However, I have promises from members of that group that they will tell me the details again so I can properly record it (it just might be a couple of weeks before I get it posted).